3 Creating and Managing Reports

This chapter describes how to create various reports in Oracle Business Activity Monitoring (Oracle BAM) Active Studio including tiled and columnar reports and how to use some of the options available when designing and formatting the reports. It describes how to modify the data objects used in reports, how to set a time delay for active data retrieval in reports, and how to configure reports to use poll mode.

3.1Introduction to Report Creation and Delivery

You create reports in Oracle BAM Active Studio for viewing, sharing with other users, and for delivery by alerts based on information or conditions changing within the report or data objects on which it is based. Reports can contain one or more views of point-in-time or real-time information (active data). Active data means the display continues to update as the data changes are received in the Oracle BAM Active Data Cache.

When designing reports, you can choose from a variety of template layouts. You might want to include two or more views in a single report. Each view is formatted to show information from a data object in a view type such as a list, chart, or key process indicator (KPI). Creating reports also includes selecting data sources, choosing data fields, sorting, filtering, and formatting the information.

You can share reports with other Oracle BAM Active Studio users by creating folders containing reports in the Shared Reports page. Assign permissions to allow users to view, create, or delete reports in a particular folder. More information about folders and permissions is available in Chapter 10, "Organizing and Sharing Reports."

After creating reports, you can create alert rules that monitor data related to specific reports and send alerts to users. Alert rules can include conditions to launch the alert when data in a report changes, when its a certain time, or when other events occur. You can deliver reports through alerts to users by e-mail containing report URLs or graphic renderings of the report. See "Creating Oracle BAM Alerts" in Oracle Fusion Middleware Developer's Guide for Oracle SOA Suite for information about creating alerts.

3.2Creating Tiled Reports

You create reports containing one or several views on data objects from either the Home, My Reports, or Shared Reports tabs. The following is a summary of how to create reports:

Click Create a New Report. This button appears on the Home, My Reports, or Shared Reports tabs. The Create a new report toolbar icon also creates a report.

Choose a report template. Tiled report templates include layouts for a single view or multiple views. A columnar report template is a continuous report view over several pages and has specific formatting options.

Choose a data object. The View Editor walks you through selecting a data object, fields, and other options in a wizard format.

Define formatting properties for the view. Depending on the view type you select, formatting options vary. For example, for lists, you can format text and background colors. Only Market Arrow does not contain any formatted text.

If the data object contains 10 or fewer fields, the fields are automatically selected in the Data Fields list. If more than 10, you must manually select fields. Click select none to clear all of the checkboxes. The link switches to select all so you can select all of the fields again.

3.3Creating Columnar Reports

Columnar report configuration has different characteristics than a tiled report. A tiled report contains views of data on a single page. A columnar report creates a multiple-paged, continuous formatted report over several pages, and it has specific formatting options.

When you select the Columnar Report template, the columnar report view is also automatically selected. You can also select a tiled report template and a columnar report view, however multiple pages are not provided for printing in this configuration.

Note:

Columnar reports and views support active data updates only, and only under the following conditions: the updates do not change the grouping of a record, and the report does not span multiple pages or frames.

The following is a summary of how to create columnar reports:

Choose the Columnar Report template.

Choose a data object. The View Editor walks you through selecting a data object, fields, and other options in a wizard format.

You can rearrange the order of the fields by selecting them and clicking the up and down arrows.

If the data object contains 10 or fewer fields, the fields are automatically selected in the Data Fields list. If more than 10, you must manually select fields. Click select none if you do not want to select any fields. The link switches to select all so you can select all fields again.

To summarize on a field, select the field in the Report Fields list, select a function in the Summary Functions list, and select from the Display In list which footer (Report Footer or Group Footer) in which to display the summary. See Section 5.6, "Applying Summary Functions to Groups" for information about the summary functions.

When printing a tiled report that has been saved offline, only the visible data prints. Data that is part of multipage views, as in List views, that is not currently displayed, is not printed. The exception to this is the Continuous mode Columnar report.

3.5 Renaming Reports

You can rename a report by selecting it from My Reports or Shared Reports tabs, while you are viewing it in Oracle BAM Active Studio, but not while editing the report.

To rename a report:

Select the report to rename in the reports list in My Reports or Shared Reports.

3.6.1 Editing a Report

You can edit any reports that you own. You can edit formatting options for each view, and you can change view types. You cannot edit reports shared by other users unless you have Create permissions for the folder they are stored in.

To edit a report:

Select the report to edit in My Reports or Shared Reports, and click Edit in the Actions list.

The report is displayed in the work space.

You can do choose from the following:

Click Edit view in the View Tasks/Options list to open the View Editor, which contains the data functions and formatting properties dialog box. You can also double-click the report display to open the View Editor.

To change the view type, click Change view type in the View Tasks/Options list. Previously selected options for the view are applied to the view type where possible.

When you finish editing the report, click Save Report in the Actions list.

3.6.2 Adding Report Titles

You can add titles to display at the top of reports.

To add a title to a report:

In a report you are editing, click in the Click to add a report title text at the top of the report.

The text changes into a text cursor.

Enter the report title.

The title is saved with the report. You can edit the report title by clicking the title text field and typing. You can format the report title in the Report Properties dialog box.

You can also add a display title for each view if your report has multiple views.

3.6.3 Formatting Report Titles

You can format report titles using the Report Properties dialog box. You must add a report title before you can format the text.

To format a report title:

In a report you are editing, click Change Report Properties in the Actions list.

The Report Properties dialog box opens.

On the Title tab, click a font name from the Font list.

Click a font style from the Style list.

Click a font size from the Size list.

Click the color swatch.

A color palette opens.

Select a color from the palette.

The color and the color hexadecimal number display. You can also specify the color by typing or pasting a hexadecimal number in this field.

Choose the effects to apply to the text by selecting the checkboxes for underline, overline, or line through.

Choose a case for the text such as capitalize the first letters, all uppercase letters, or all lowercase letters.

Click Apply or OK.

3.6.4 Setting Backgrounds for Reports

You can set a background color or an image for reports. The background is displayed in the title bar, in the space behind view elements, and between views.

Only GIF, JPG, and PNG image file formats are supported.

To set a background color for a report:

In a report you are editing, click Change Report Properties in the Actions list.

The Report Properties dialog box opens.

On the Background tab, click the current color swatch for the report background.

A color palette opens.

Select a color.

The color and the color hexadecimal number display for the report background color. You can also specify the color by typing or pasting a hexadecimal number in this field.

Click OK.

The background color is applied to the report.

To use an image in the background:

In a report you are editing, click Change Report Properties in the Actions list.

The Report Properties dialog box opens.

On the Background tab, select the Image checkbox, and click Browse.

The File Upload dialog box opens.

Click Browse to locate the image.

Select an image file and click Open.

Click Upload.

Click OK to close the File Upload dialog box.

Click OK to close the Report Properties dialog box.

3.6.5 Resizing Views

You can resize a view in a report. You might want to display a larger view, or you might want decrease the size of a view to make room for inserting another view.

To resize a view in a report:

In a report you are editing, select the view to resize.

The view displays selection handles.

Click a selection handle and do one of the following:

Drag the handle with the mouse in a direction to resize the view.

Use the direction keys (arrows) in the direction you want the view edge to move (this offers more precision).

The view is resized. You can also move the view without resizing by dragging the frame of the view instead of a selection handle.

3.6.6 Inserting Views

You can insert additional views into a report. After selecting a report template, you might want to arrange views and add more views.

To insert a view into a report:

In a report you are editing, click Insert View in the toolbar.

The view opens and the selection handles are active.

You can do any of the following to arrange your view:

Click a handle and drag in a direction to resize the view.

Move the view without resizing by dragging the frame of the view instead of a selection handle.

Click Send Backward and Bring Forward in the toolbar to arrange views that overlap.

3.6.7 Deleting Views

You can delete a view from a report. You might want fewer views in a report, and then you can resize the remaining views.

To delete a view from a report:

In a report you are editing, click the view to delete.

The view displays selection handles.

Click Delete View in the toolbar.

The view is deleted.

3.6.8 Changing View Types

You can edit a report and change the view type you selected for a specific view. For example, you might have a three view report and decide to change the first view from a streaming list to an updating ordered list, without re-creating the entire report. Many view types can be changed and still maintain the majority of the properties you previously specified.

To change a view type in a report:

In a report you are editing, click the view to change.

The view displays selection handles.

Click Change view type in the View Tasks/Options list.

The view type icons display.

Click the view type to switch to.

The view opens using the data object selected for the old view type.

Open the View Editor to make any other formatting selections needed for the view type.

3.6.9 Changing the Data Objects Used

You can edit a report and change the data object you selected for a specific view, or any occurrence of a data object used throughout the entire report. The data object you select must contain at least the same fields as the originally selected data object. The data object you choose might contain additional fields. The data objects that do not apply are disabled.

The list of data objects opens. Data objects that are not similar to the original data object are disabled.

Make any other formatting selections needed for the view type.

Click OK or Apply.

To change all occurrences of a data object in a report:

While the report is open for editing, click Global Change Data Object in the Actions list.

In the Global Change Data Object dialog box, click Browse to select the currently used data object (the data object you want to replace).

Click Browse by the second field to select the replacement data object, and clock OK.

3.6.10 Setting Active Data Retrieval Interval

When you create active data reports where the amount of changing data is large and changes often, you might want to set a time delay so that more data accumulates before each active data retrieval. This results in better display performance for the users viewing the report. The ideal setting depends on the data characteristics.

If the report display is not keeping up with the active data and the client system CPU is completely used, adding a small amount of time provides a chance for more records to collect before being sent so that more records are sent each time. The short delay increases display performance.

Determining the ideal amount of time requires displaying the report and testing which amount of time provides the best results. This setting applies to all the views in the report that display active data.

To set a data retrieval interval:

In a report you are editing, click Change Report Properties in the Actions list.

Select the second option under Active Data interval, and enter a number for the refresh interval in milliseconds, such as 500 to represent half a second or 2000 for 2 seconds.

By default, the active data interval is set by the administrator, and the default value is 1000 milliseconds. However, the administrator may have changed the default interval.

Click OK to save your changes and close the dialog box.

3.6.11 Setting a Report-Level Poll Mode Refresh Interval

You can configure a report to open in poll mode instead of active data mode. In poll mode, there is no open active data channel between the report and Oracle BAM Server. View sets for each view in the report are opened in a static snapshot mode, and there is no active data monitoring for those view sets. On the IBM WebSphere platform, the servlet thread that processed the “open report” request is unblocked and returned to the container thread pool.

When a report is in poll mode, the browser is forced to request a reload of the whole report URL at a specified interval. The default refresh interval in poll mode is 5 minutes (300 seconds).

To set a whole report in poll mode:

In the report you are editing, click Change Report Properties in the Actions list.

In the Report Properties dialog box that opens, click the Advanced tab.

Select Refresh interval, then enter a number for the report-level poll mode refresh interval in seconds. The minimum value must be 1 minute (60 seconds).

3.6.12 Configuring Report Breadcrumbs

When you create a report that is configured for drilling across to other reports, you can enable the Show Breadcrumbs feature to display the drill path at the top of the report. This leaves a trail of visited reports so that a user can click back to a previous report as shown in Figure 3-4.

This feature is only supported when the drill across type is configured with the Replace the Current Report option as shown in Figure 3-5. For information about configuring drill across targets, see Section 5.3.4, "Drilling Across."

This option is enabled in the Report Properties dialog box, as shown in Figure 3-3. To access this dialog box in a report you are editing, click the Change Report Properties link in the Actions list.

3.6.13 Configuring Browser Padding

The Show Report padding in view mode feature places a small space between the edges of the views in a report and the edge of the browser window. This ensures that text that is flush with the left or right sides of a view is not at the edge of the window.

This option is enabled in the Report Properties dialog box, as shown in Figure 3-3. To access this dialog box in a report you are editing, click the Change Report Properties link in the Actions list.

3.7 Deleting Reports

You can delete any reports that you own. You cannot delete reports shared by other users unless the report owner gave you Delete permission for the folder containing the report.

If a report is deleted that is referenced by an alert, there is no warning to the user. When the alert is triggered, the error message "Error occurred while sending e-mail" is given with no specific error regarding broken references to the deleted report. When deleting reports it is important to verify that the report is not referenced by an alert or this error will occur.

To delete a report:

Select the report to delete.

Click Delete in the Actions list.

A dialog box opens to confirm the delete operation.

Click OK.

The report is deleted.

3.8 E-mailing Reports

You can e-mail reports or links to reports to yourself or other users.

To e-mail a report:

Open the report that you want to e-mail for viewing in Active Studio.

Click Email in the Actions list, and choose Report page or Report link.

A link to a report opens the active report when Report link is selected.

If you select Report page for an active report, you can preview the report in the dialog box the way that the recipient views it. Report pages are static snapshots of the report, and they do not include any JavaScript or resizing capabilities. If a Web page in an External Content view contains JavaScript, it should not be sent using the Report page option.

Snapshot report pages can only be viewed within the e-mail message in Microsoft Outlook. Firefox, Netscape, and other Mozilla clients are not supported for viewing snapshot report pages, so the report page is sent as an attachment.

The Email Report dialog box opens.

The report link version of the dialog box contains a link to the report.

Type a message to the recipient in the Message field. This option is only available when you are sending a report page.

Click Send.

The e-mail containing the report link or report page is sent to all of the message recipients.

3.9 Printing Reports

You can print a report you are viewing from the My Reports or Shared Reports tabs.

Note:

All rows may not print in List views. If a List view is broken into two or more pages only the selected page prints. You must select each page and print it separately.

To print a report:

Click the report to print.

Click View in the Actions list.

Print Preview and the page orientation options display in the Actions list.

Select either portrait or landscape for your page orientation.

Click Print Preview in the Actions list.

The Print Preview window opens.

Click Print.

The Print dialog box for your printer settings opens.

Select printing options such as the printer to send the report to and the number of copies to print.

If you changed the page orientation in Oracle BAM Active Studio, then you must also change the page orientation in your printer settings. Click Preferences in the Microsoft Windows Print dialog box, and then click the Basics tab to view the page orientation options.

Click Print.

The printer prints the report.

To close the Print Preview window, click Close.

When you print a columnar report, you can view the print boundaries and the page count.

To print a columnar report:

Click the report to print.

Click View in the Actions list.

Print Boundaries and the page orientation options display in the Actions list.

Click Print Boundaries to view the page layout and page count.

Select either portrait or landscape for your page orientation.

Click Print in the Actions list.

The Print dialog box for your printer settings opens.

Select printing options such as the printer to send the report to and the number of copies to print.

If you changed the page orientation in Oracle BAM Active Studio, then you must also change the page orientation in your printer settings. Click Preferences in the Print dialog box, and then click the Basics tab to view the page orientation options.

Click Print.

The printer prints the report.

To turn off the print boundaries, click Print Boundaries again.

3.10 Copying Report URLs

You can copy the URL of a saved report so that you can paste it in another location, such as a Web page in a portal site or as a link in an e-mail. The report URL contains the complete report location so that clicking the link opens the report in a browser. The report is displayed in Oracle BAM Active Studio.

Select the report in the list in the My Reports page or the Shared Reports page.

Click Copy Shortcut in the Actions list.

The Copy Shortcut dialog box opens including the string containing the report URL.

Highlight the string, hold down the Control key, and type C to copy the text.

Paste the URL in any location.

3.11 Saving Reports Offline

You can save reports locally as MHT files. These files are saved on your local computer so that you can view them at another time when you might not have access to Oracle BAM Active Studio. The MHT files are viewed in a browser and display the report just as it opens in Oracle BAM Active Studio.

To save a report offline:

Click the report.

Click View in the Actions list.

Click Save Offline in the Actions list.

The Save HTML document dialog box opens.

Select a folder location to save the file.

Type a name for the MHT file and click Save.

To view a report saved offline:

Locate the MHT file in your local files and double-click it.

The MHT file is displayed in the Internet Explorer browser. The report display resizes according to the browser window size. Reports saved as MHT files are static and do not show live data.

Note:

When printing a tiled report that has been saved offline, only the visible data prints. Data that is part of multipage views, as in List views, that is not currently displayed, is not printed. The exception to this is the Continuous mode Columnar report.

3.14Pausing and Playing Active Data

When viewing reports, you can pause the display of active data in reports. For reports that are quickly updating, you might want to pause the display to view the current data before more active data is loaded.

To stop the display of active data:

In a report you are viewing, click the Pause icon in the toolbar.

The active data is temporarily halted, and the Pause button turns into a Play button.

To restart the display of active data:

Click Play in the toolbar.

The active data starts, and the Play button turns into a Pause button.

3.15 Adding Oracle BAM Reports to Web Pages

To add an Oracle BAM report to a Web page:

Open My Reports>Shared Reports tab in Oracle BAM Active Studio.

Select the report to be displayed in the Web page.

On left side pane, in Actions panel, click the Copy Shortcut link.

The Copy Shortcut dialog box opens including the string containing the report URL.

Highlight the URL string, and press Control-C to copy the text.

Paste the URL into the src attribute of an iframe element as shown in the following example.